A key factor of my teaching philosophy is that I try to look at the student as a whole, not just the 50 minutes of class I will have them for, and have set my goals for working with them accordingly. I have divided my goals for interacting with my students into 3 categories: short-term impacts that I hope to accomplish daily, yearly goals that I hope to have reached with all my students by the close of the academic year, and long-term impacts that I hope to leave on my students even after they have left my class. It is my belief that accomplishing my short-term goals on a daily basis will inherently help me reach my yearly and long-term goals for my students.
The short-term impacts I hope to have on my students are mainly based on engaging my students with the science content. Strategies to engage students that I plan to use in my classroom include many hooks discussed in Dave Burgess' book, Teach Like a Pirate. Whenever possible, I plan to add artistic, kinesthetic, musical, etc. hooks to my lessons to draw in all types of students, not just those naturally inclined to engage in science concepts. I hope to present students with unique and innovative demonstrations and activities frequently, so that they are intellectually stimulated as much as possible in my classroom. My hope is that this strategy will limit classroom management issues as much as possible.
Before beginning my 431 observations, it was my goal to create personal relationships and establish a rapport with each of my students. While I still see this as one of my most important tasks as an educator, my strategy for establishing these relationships has changed as a result of my experiences in the classroom. It was my admittedly naive and idealistic view, prior to student teaching, that if I was friendly and humorous towards my students they would enjoy spending time in my class and therefore would be attentive and respectful. It is clear to me now that student's respect is earned over many interactions, and that until you have that respect from them, being friendly, cracking jokes, or taking a more relaxed approach usually ends up with them not taking you seriously or regarding you as a "pushover." While I still regard forming personal relationships with students as an important goal to strive towards daily, my experiences in 431 have taught me there are certain ways to go about forming these relationships that work better than others.
I also will strive to have my students actually “do” science, not just cover science concepts in the textbook, since participating in an authentic scientific study is a far more valuable way for them to develop an understanding of the true nature of science. Most of my lesson plans will be built around trying to have students engage in at least one of the science and engineering practices for students set forth in the NGSS frameworks. I also hope to ask them more questions than I provide answers for on a daily basis. I believe this approach to teaching and learning makes the student an active participant in their own education, it presents students with an intellectual challenge, and in the long-run helps students construct knowledge that is far more meaningful than if it had just been memorized out of class notes or a textbook. I plan to take the “guide on the side” over the “sage on the stage” approach to teaching whenever possible.
The final short term goal I have for myself as a new teacher is to consistently hold my students to high standards. My experiences both as a student and as a pre-service teacher have lead me to firmly believe that the most meaningful learning occurs when the learner is pushed slightly outside his or her comfort zone. Although I plan to hold all students to high standards, that does not mean I will use the same "high standard" for all students. I think teachers often confuse the term "fair" with "equal" in terms of the grading criteria and level of difficulty of tasks assigned to all of their different students. I think it is fair to assign classwork and grades based on the students needs and abilities, which, in a class of up to 25 students of varied abilities and from different backgrounds, will most likely not be equal. I hope that by expecting all students to perform to the best of their abilities, I will teach them to hold themselves to high standards as well, and always strive towards improvement.
After having spent the academic year in my classroom, there are certain "take-aways" I hope each student will be able to make. I aspire to share the beauty of my subject matter with my students, so that they will come to recognize this beauty by the end of the year. Even as a teacher I find some topics more interesting than others, but I hope by the end of the year I have accomplished enough of my daily goals that each student has found something they really appreciate/sticks with them. I also hope to have made many connections across disciplines, so that my students are able to see the true value of what we have been covering all year. This goal relates to my holistic approach to education- I am not just teaching them about science but rather preparing them for life. It’s important to apply subject matter to other areas. Learning is meaningless if just applied within the context of the science classroom. What good is being able to fill out a Punnett Square if the student can’t see the wider impact of genetics on evolution and evolution’s role in shaping the world we live in?
I hope that by attempting to have these impacts on each student in my class throughout the year I will be able to reach my long-term goal of positively impacting the development of the whole child. While science education is obviously important in my eyes, in a way I see it as a means to an end, and that end is being able to improve the lives and future of each child in my class by preparing them for their futures and arming them with the skills they will need to create successful, full lives.
A key factor of my teaching philosophy is that I try to look at the student as a whole, not just the 50 minutes of class I will have them for, and have set my goals for working with them accordingly. I have divided my goals for interacting with my students into 3 categories: short-term impacts that I hope to accomplish daily, yearly goals that I hope to have reached with all my students by the close of the academic year, and long-term impacts that I hope to leave on my students even after they have left my class. It is my belief that accomplishing my short-term goals on a daily basis will inherently help me reach my yearly and long-term goals for my students.
The short-term impacts I hope to have on my students are mainly based on engaging my students with the science content. Strategies to engage students that I plan to use in my classroom include many hooks discussed in Dave Burgess' book, Teach Like a Pirate. Whenever possible, I plan to add artistic, kinesthetic, musical, etc. hooks to my lessons to draw in all types of students, not just those naturally inclined to engage in science concepts. I hope to present students with unique and innovative demonstrations and activities frequently, so that they are intellectually stimulated as much as possible in my classroom. My hope is that this strategy will limit classroom management issues as much as possible.
Before beginning my 431 observations, it was my goal to create personal relationships and establish a rapport with each of my students. While I still see this as one of my most important tasks as an educator, my strategy for establishing these relationships has changed as a result of my experiences in the classroom. It was my admittedly naive and idealistic view, prior to student teaching, that if I was friendly and humorous towards my students they would enjoy spending time in my class and therefore would be attentive and respectful. It is clear to me now that student's respect is earned over many interactions, and that until you have that respect from them, being friendly, cracking jokes, or taking a more relaxed approach usually ends up with them not taking you seriously or regarding you as a "pushover." While I still regard forming personal relationships with students as an important goal to strive towards daily, my experiences in 431 have taught me there are certain ways to go about forming these relationships that work better than others.
I also will strive to have my students actually “do” science, not just cover science concepts in the textbook, since participating in an authentic scientific study is a far more valuable way for them to develop an understanding of the true nature of science. Most of my lesson plans will be built around trying to have students engage in at least one of the science and engineering practices for students set forth in the NGSS frameworks. I also hope to ask them more questions than I provide answers for on a daily basis. I believe this approach to teaching and learning makes the student an active participant in their own education, it presents students with an intellectual challenge, and in the long-run helps students construct knowledge that is far more meaningful than if it had just been memorized out of class notes or a textbook. I plan to take the “guide on the side” over the “sage on the stage” approach to teaching whenever possible.
The final short term goal I have for myself as a new teacher is to consistently hold my students to high standards. My experiences both as a student and as a pre-service teacher have lead me to firmly believe that the most meaningful learning occurs when the learner is pushed slightly outside his or her comfort zone. Although I plan to hold all students to high standards, that does not mean I will use the same "high standard" for all students. I think teachers often confuse the term "fair" with "equal" in terms of the grading criteria and level of difficulty of tasks assigned to all of their different students. I think it is fair to assign classwork and grades based on the students needs and abilities, which, in a class of up to 25 students of varied abilities and from different backgrounds, will most likely not be equal. I hope that by expecting all students to perform to the best of their abilities, I will teach them to hold themselves to high standards as well, and always strive towards improvement.
After having spent the academic year in my classroom, there are certain "take-aways" I hope each student will be able to make. I aspire to share the beauty of my subject matter with my students, so that they will come to recognize this beauty by the end of the year. Even as a teacher I find some topics more interesting than others, but I hope by the end of the year I have accomplished enough of my daily goals that each student has found something they really appreciate/sticks with them. I also hope to have made many connections across disciplines, so that my students are able to see the true value of what we have been covering all year. This goal relates to my holistic approach to education- I am not just teaching them about science but rather preparing them for life. It’s important to apply subject matter to other areas. Learning is meaningless if just applied within the context of the science classroom. What good is being able to fill out a Punnett Square if the student can’t see the wider impact of genetics on evolution and evolution’s role in shaping the world we live in?
I hope that by attempting to have these impacts on each student in my class throughout the year I will be able to reach my long-term goal of positively impacting the development of the whole child. While science education is obviously important in my eyes, in a way I see it as a means to an end, and that end is being able to improve the lives and future of each child in my class by preparing them for their futures and arming them with the skills they will need to create successful, full lives.